Preliminary study of the pollination syndromes in a fragment of the Caatinga, in PE, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to preliminarily identify the pollination syndromes of plant species in a fragment of the Caatinga, in the municipality of Serrita, Pernambuco, Brazil. A floristic survey was conducted during March 2014 in a 900 m² area. The morphology and floral attributes of the species were characterized (e.g., color and size of flowers, anthesis, presence of floral resources). The sets of floral parameters identified were used to determine their respective pollination syndromes. Entomophily was the most frequent pollination system, occurring in 76.12% of the species, followed by ornithophily (17.91%) and chiropterophily (5.97%). Melittophily accounted for 52.24% of the entomophilous species. The observed data show that pollination syndromes of the species in the study area follow the same patterns found in other Brazilian ecosystems, where entomophily/melittophily is the main pollination syndrome.

Keywords

• Entomophily
• Melittophily
• Pollen transport
• Xerophytes